DuckTales Reboot Casts Lin-Manuel Miranda as Gizmoduck

Lin-Manuel Miranda is set to join Disney’s DuckTales reboot as the voice of fan-favorite, Gizmoduck. News of a DuckTales reboot was greeted favorably by most; the show was hugely popular when it originally aired from 1987-1990, and was certainly missed when it came off air. Following Scrooge McDuck, and his adventures with his lively nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, DuckTales was a whole heap of animated fun with possibly the most infectious, feel-good theme tune ever.

David Tennant will voice the central role of Scrooge McDuck, with Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz and Bobby Moynihan as Huey, Dewey and Louie respectively. Kate Micucci gives her voice to Webby Vanderquack, who will have a much larger role than she did in the original series. Toks Olagundoye voices Mrs. Beakley, while Beck Bennett plays Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge’s pilot who has yet to perfect a smooth landing. Rounding out the voice cast, Lin-Manuel Miranda joins as Gizmoduck.

The news was announced via the DuckTales Twitter account, along with Gizmoduck’s catchphrase:

Executive producer Matt Youngberg said in a statement that long-time DuckTales fan Miranda, was the perfect man for the job: “His rapid-fire earnestness paired with his wide-eyed yet determined optimism made him the perfect person to yell ‘BLATHERING BLATHERSKITE!’” When creating the character, Miranda was immediately thought of for the role, apparently, and co-producer Francisco Angones said that he always wanted a Latin-America hero:

“Growing up as a Cuban-American comics enthusiast, I was always hungry for a Latino hero to call my own. In developing the new series, Matt and I leapt at the opportunity to adapt ‘DuckTales” marquee hero into a young scientist character with Latin-inspired roots.”

Gizmoduck is also known as Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, and he serves as a superhero who protects Duckburg, while also spending his days as an intern for Scrooge McDuck’s personal mad scientist, Gyro Gearloose. This is a departure from the original series, where he was Scrooge’s accountant. However, a lot of the aspects from the original series remain the same, including the hand-drawn animation style, rather than CGI.

This role is adding to a long list of Disney projects for Miranda; after writing original music for Moana, he is now filming opposite Emily Blunt for Mary Poppins Returns. He is also attached to write music for Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid remake, as well as collaborating with Zootopia director Byron Howard on a new animated Disney movie.

Althoughthe show has yet to come to air, the House of Mouse has such faith in its success that it’s already renewed DuckTales for season 2. Season 1 will consist of 21 half-hour episodes, and 2, one hour specials. With an all-star voice cast, and such well-loved characters, it seems almost certain that Disney XD will have a huge hit on its hands.